The Only One Who Makes Me Smile
by ColetteUzumaki
Summary: A girl who lost everything, including a bit of herself. Hateful, shy, and lazy towards everyone. But caring, humerous, and determined towards the Inuzuka who saved her life.
1. Chapter 1

"Fire, fire!" the neighboring residents yell, watching in horror and dismay at the great Michiko building set ablaze.

"This fire is too out of control. We can hardly contain it!" Anko shouts to the other jounin that were there, watching as the flames grew more with every passing second.

"Yes, I know Anko. But… we have to keep trying. Ninja Art: Water style jutsu!" Hayate yells assuringly, blowing a huge amount of water from his mouth onto the house.

"What happened here?" Kiba's mother, Tsume Inuzuka, asks Anko in shock as she runs up beside her.

"We don't know yet. Were just trying to get the flames under control for now," she replies, making the same hand sign as Hayate.

"Mom, mom!" a young Kiba calls out, sprinting up behind his mother.

"Kiba, stay back!" she tells him sharply.

Kiba comes to an abrupt halt, stumbling forward a bit, and looks with terrifying eyes at the raging fire before him.

"Mom… what is this? What happened here?" Kiba questions, his eyes fixated on the dancing fire.

"Just stay back! You hear me?" she explains, her voice roaring with authority.

Tsume's dog, Kuromaru, stands faithfully beside her giving Kiba a rigorous look.

"What in the world is that!" Anko asks surprisingly, as a massive fire dragon shoots out from the ceiling of the burning home.

The dragon roars loudly, and disappears in a blink of an eye, exactly as it had appeared.

"What was that?" Tsume asks Anko bewildered.

"I don't know. But it was probably signaling that there is someone still in there… still alive," she explains, the last bit to Hayate. 

"Yes… your probably right. But it's too dangerous to let any of our men in there. The place could collapse at any second," he states clearly, coughing a little from the smoke. 

'_What? Their not gonna' do anything? But it's obvious that someone is in there,' _Kiba thinks to himself, looking at each of the jounin around him in a perplexed state.

"Kiba! What are you doing! Get back here!" Tsune screams at her son, as he darts past her towards the blazing building.

She tries to run after him, but Anko holds her back sternly telling her, "No. It's too dangerous!"

"I don't care! I have to go and get my son!" Tsume shots at Anko, fully enraged.

"No, Tsume. I will go after the boy," Kuromaru implies, racing after Kiba through the incinerated door.__

_Kiba's P.O.V._

_Cough, cough!_

I covered my nose with the sleeve of my jacket, trying to prevent anymore of the smoke to get into my body. My eyes were stinging and watering so much from the intenseness of the smoke rising from the fire surrounding me, that it was hard for me to see where I was going. The fire was so uncontrollable, that I could barely maneuver around the home. And the heat was just too much to bear. It felt as though I had been placed inside of a heated stove.

I made my way down a long passageway, evidently it was a hallway. I turned left and hesitantly walked into the kitchen. I could tell because I still could see the refrigerator in the corner of the room and minor parts of the sink next to it, but as for everything else: impossible. 

_Cough, cough, cough!_

Tears rolled down my face, as the smoke filled up in more in my lungs. I looked around from where I was hopelessly, until I heard…

_Cough, cough! 'Help…'_

My eyes shot open in disbelief, and my heart raced inside my chest. 

'_Did I really hear someone?' _I asked myself, a bit happy and surprised. 

I heard movement coming from over in the direction by the refrigerator. I slowly and cautiously made my way over, watching carefully with every step I took. I glanced over at the side of the refrigerator, and saw a young girl about my age it looked like. By this point, I could feel my heart beating inside of my throat. She tiredly looked over at me, her small amethyst- colored eyes clouded up by death. Her body was shaking all over, and I could tell that she had been crying: badly. Her skin had scorch marks all over, and parts of her body were completely charred away. I gazed solemnly into her eyes, contemplating on what I should do. 

'_Of course I need to get her out of here,' _I thought to myself with a sure nod. 

I know I needed to help her out of there, but my body was to frail to move her, and plus I already felt majorly weak from the smoke in my body. 

'_What do I do?' _I pondered desperately.

"Kiba!" a voice called out from behind me.

"Kuromaru," I said wearily.

"Come on! Let's get out of here!" the dog said with a commanding tone.

"No… we have to save this girl," I explained, steeping back a bit so Kuromaru could see her.

_Creak, creak._

I looked up at the ceiling above us, my expression sullen. The ceiling was going to fall down on top of us if we didn't get out of there quickly!

_End of Kiba's P.O.V._

* * *

"Grrr… it's been too long!" Anko says irritably, counting as nine minutes passed by.

"No. They'll come… Kuromaru won't let me down," Tsume states, staring with her eyes narrowed at the burning home. 

_Creak, creak, creak! _

Seconds pass, and the a blazed building tumbles with a deafening _CRASH_ down to the ground. The force of the fall sends massive amounts of smoke and debris waving over the many jounin before it. 

"No… but… did they make it out?" Anko asks, covering her face up with her arms.

"Amazing…" Hayate says… amazed! As he stares out at Kuromaru, who was standing in front of the collapsed home, with Kiba leaning exhausted onto the dog's body.

"Hmm? What is this?" Anko inquires, noticing a small figure laid awkwardly over the dog's back.

Many of the jounin race over to the dog, with Tsume in front of them all. 

"This is…" Anko gasps out, who was standing beside Tsume, who was looking a bit more unsurprised than she was.

"Alright, what are you all standing around for? Get medical assistance here stat!" she booms to them all, getting nothing but _'Yes, ma-am' _in return.


	2. Chapter 2

"So… Ayama Michiko is the only person who has survived the fire that left the great Michiko building in ruin

"So… Ayama Michiko is the only person who has survived the fire that left the great Michiko building in ruin?" the Third Hokage, Sarutobi, asks Anko softly.

"Yes, my Lord. Everyone else was killed in the blaze. Her father, Sanyu Michiko. Her mother, Kamiku Michiko. And also her older sister, Mai Michiko," Anko replies, with her head bow lowly in respect.

"Hmm… I see. Where is Ayama now?" the Third questions, standing up from his chair.

"She is now being treated in the hospital," Anko states simply, staring after the Hokage as he walks over to the door, leading out of his office.

He opens it carefully, but before leaving he turns his attention once more back to Anko and smiles warmly and says to her, "You have done well, Anko."

And with that last statement, he makes his way out of the room without another word.

"Thank you, Lord Hokage," Anko says in a hushed whisper, bowing her head once more as he left.

_"Mom! Dad! Where… where are you guys?!" I yell desperately, shielding my face from the blinding smoke surrounding me._

_"Ayama… Ayama… in here!"_

_I gasp faintly, as I hear my sister call out my name._

_"Where… are you, Mai?!" I screamed through heart wrenching coughs._

_The smoke was becoming to unbearable, but I didn't know what to do. Tears slowly fall down my cheeks, as I find my sister in the family room. My stomach clenches tightly, and I force myself not to puke at the sight of her._

_She laid sprawled out on the floor beside the now scorched couch. A big, thick piece of wood, that obviously had fell from the ceiling, had fallen on top of her legs. I could see the faint sight of red stuff that was flowing down her crushed legs: blood. Her face was somewhat misshapen, and over parts of her body I could see her flesh slowly was decaying away._

_'No…' I said to myself, tears streaming more and more down my cheeks. "Mai!" I managed to scream, running over and kneeling down beside her. _

_"Ayama… you… you need… to get out… of here," she tells me, barely above a whisper._

_"I can't. I don't… want to… leave you," I said, through hiccups and occasionally some more coughing._

_"You have to. Or… you'll die. You have to go…I think… I think I have enough chakra for this. The Leaf shinobi should be outside right now… so I'll give them a sign telling them that you here… still alive…" _

_And with that said, Mai makes four hand signs. She takes one last deep breath, and utters emotionlessly, "Fire style: Fire Dragon jutsu!"_

"Where… what… what happened?" I say weakly, opening my eyes to an unfamiliar room.

"So… your finally up, huh?" I hear a young boy, to the right of me, say.

"What…? Where… where am I?" I ask him, while still looking up half-dazed at the white ceiling above me.

"Your… in the hospital," he replies in a melancholy tone.

I cringe in pain, as I sit up, with my elbows holding me up barely enough so that I could see my surroundings and also the boy who was sitting so carelessly beside my bed. His expression was almost saddening and indescribable, like he had just lost his puppy dog in the pouring rain. He was about my age, with messy brown hair, brown eyes, and he also had two red marks on each side of his face.

"What… what are you doing here? Where's my family? Why aren't they here?" I question him, assuming he had every answer.

"You… you don't remember? You don't remember what happened? You don't remember me?" he asked back, his expression turning into perplexity.

"No… should I? I don't…" I stop and gasp out in shock, as I begin to remember everything. 

Everything that he had asked me. I started to remember everything, as if a huge tidal wave had just hit with me with all the answers.

"Your that boy! The boy I saw… while I was sitting by the refrigerator. But then… then means that… this all wasn't a dream. It all really happened. Everyone is gone… my family… my home. Everything!" I screamed the last part out, as I wrapped my arms over my knees and buried my face into them; crying hysterically, not mattering if my body was screaming out in sheer pain.

At that moment, I heard the door being opened and closed, and footsteps walking ever so slowly over to my bed. I lift my head up hesitantly, and through blurry and teary eyes I see the Hokage standing with a warm smile next to the red-faced marked boy.

"Kiba…" the Hokage says calmly, looking down at the boy with impassive eyes. "Would you mind stepping out into the hall for a minute. I want to talk with Ayame. Oh… and please would you tell me when your mother gets here?"

"Yes…" the boy replies, his voice barely above a whisper. He stands up tentatively and gives me one last apologetic look, before stepping out into the hall, closing the door behind him.

I gaze out after him, noticing the look he gave me. It made me… almost… not for him to leave.

"How are you feeling, Ayame? Physically, I mean," he states genuinely.

I do not respond to his question. Yes, I knew what he was asking me, but I did not feel like answering. I didn't want to speak to anyone at that point I time. But I had to know what had happened to my mother, father, and my sister.

"So… it all wasn't a dream then…" I say in a stated sentence, and not a question.

"No, it was not. I am deeply sorry to say this Ayame… but your family is dead. I am sorry to give it to you so straight-forwardly, my girl…" he adds quickly.

"No… it's fine," I remark, not wanting to say anymore.

"You know that boy? Who was just in here a few moments ago?" he inquires, gesturing towards the closed door.

"Yeah… his name's Kiba, right? He's the one who saved my life…" I utter simply, my stomach clenching tightly as I remember the occurrence.

Then the Hokage does something I was not prepared for. He closes the small gap between us and gives me a _small_, but encouraging hug. I control my urge to push him away, and stiffen myself until he finally lets go of me. I avert my eyes from his sympathetic gaze, and stare out coldly at the end of the bed.

"Umm… Lord Hokage? You wanted to see me?" Kiba's mother, Tsume, opens the door slightly and asks.

"Oh, yes. I did. Would you let Kiba know that he wants to… he may come back in?" the Hokage tells her kindly.

My heart flutters faintly, at the mention of the boy's name. Why was this happening? I hadn't even knew the boy, but he did save my life. I guess I was going to find out why I was feeling this way. We were both alike somehow. I just didn't know how yet.


End file.
